Thursday, March 6, 2014

(OMHKSEA) - At the invitation of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, the First-Hierarchs of all the Orthodox Autocephalous Churches will gather from March 6-9, 2014, for a Sacred Synaxis at the Phanar in order to deliberate on matters pertaining to the entire Orthodox Church throughout the world and procedural issues for the convocation of the Holy and Great Council, whose preparation is coming to an end.

Prior to this, from March 4-5, 2014, a Preparatory Committee for the Synaxis was also held at the Ecumenical Patriarchate, chaired by His Eminence Metropolitan John of Pergamon, in order to formulate the program of proceedings and draft the Message of the First-Hierarchs, who will conclude the Synaxis with a concelebration on the Sunday of Orthodoxy in the venerable Patriarchal Church of St. George, thereby also visibly expressing the unity of Orthodoxy.

During this festive Divine Liturgy on the occasion of great feast of Orthodoxy, the Message of the First-Hierarchs will be read from the Patriarchal Ambon to the faithful of the Most Holy Churches throughout the world.

I don't see anyone listed as being present from the Church of the Czech Lands & Slovakia.

Did I miss it, or was it accidentally left off the list?

If they weren't there then this would, in part, explain Patriarch Kirill's reference about all the autocephalous Churches not being invited/present:“We should seek to ensure that all the Local Churches should take part in the preparation of a Pan-Orthodox Churches, and then our Council will become an expression of the prophetic voice of the Church addressed to both our own ones and external ones. Our own ones should feel the unity of the Church."http://byztex.blogspot.com/2014/03/heads-of-local-churches-at-phanar.html#more

At before I saw that Czech Lands & Slovakia were not represented I thought this comment was in reference to the OCA, but now it seems like it may be evidence that Constantinople really does not recognize +Rastislav of Presov as the legitimate primate of the Church of the Czech Lands & Slovakia.

The below is a huge blow to the idea of a united, canonical Orthodox Church in America. When ROCOR declared that they didn't want to be ...

"The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide."